Of Beauty and Rage
by Prime627
Summary: Ficlets based off of songs from Red's album "Of Beauty and Rage". I've always wanted to do something like this, and now I've made it a reality. Enjoy. Please note that the fics will be from different universes, and can be either of the following but not limited to: Exodus, Exiles, Transformers Prime, Bayverse.
1. Chapter 1

**Descent**

Optimus stood at the viewing port, watching stars go by. His optics were dim and his faceplates were wet with tears, but his posture was rigid and anyone watching at that moment wouldn't have known he was crying until they walked around and saw his face. He had his helm high as well, and so he looked like the strong mech that everyone knew, but the words echoing through his processor were not words to be shared, and they were simple, to the point, and spark-crushing.

 **We are lost**.

Not lost, as of currently, but as lost as a ragtag team of refugees could get with no home or real distanation. They were hoping for a miracle, a miracle Optimus wasn't sure Primus would grant the Cybertronians he had seemingly abandoned.

All hope lost, murdered with so many others. Optimus couldn't help but think their names, but his grieving would have to wait. He heard Ratchet behind him and his servo shot up to wipe his faceplates of tears.

"We are seeing many sister planets, some full of life and others abandoned. How would you like to proceed, Prime?"

Optimus' voice wavered as he first spoke, and then got harder as he went on. "We find the AllSpark. That is the beginning and the end of this mission."

Ratchet nodded and unnecessarily tossed him a salute. Optimus nodded back to him, once, and he turned his attention back to space, thinking the words again.

 **We are lost.**

 **ooo**

 **So, consider this a ficlet dump based on songs on Red's album "Of Beauty and Rage". I'm listening to each song in its respective order and then writing a fic about it, short if it's a short song and long if it's a long song. At first I wanted to make it tell a story, but eh. I'll just type whatever comes to me XD Enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Impostor**

Makeshift had been spotted, and by the worst possible femme. Nightshade was on heels, Megatron's orders clearly being carried out. Makeshift had been masquerading as a Decepticon, though he wore the Autobot insignia on his chest. He had thought his world was perfectly made, was flawless. His 'guise was utterly perfect, and his attitude matched the Decepticon he was supposed to be. And still, Megatron's bloodhounds found him. How?

He walked down the narrow halls of the _Nemesis_ , hearing Nightshade behind him. He could picture her clearly, walking confidently, tiny poisoned-edged blades under her wrist plates, her wings flicking up and down as she relayed messages with them that Makeshift wouldn't even understand if he bothered to look. Instead, he walked into a storage room and he stood at the back, watching the door that he had closed behind him.

Nightshade opened it soundlessly, her optics narrowed and dim. "You're not going to hide, Makeshift?" She stepped in and closed it behind her. The lock slid into place on her command. Her claws curled into fists. They weren't as long as Starscream's, but still sizable and, Makeshift knew, just as sharp.

"I know when I am beaten, Nightshade." His servos curled around the swords secured to his hips and he pulled them free, flipping them in the air before readying. She knew she wouldn't be impressed by this trick, but it was a way to give himself some time to analyze which side she favored, what side was her blind side, what her weaknesses were...

But as soon as his servos were curled lightly around the handles of the swords, she lunged towards him, poisoned blades out and aimed for his chest. He kicked her away, slicing the swords down on her leg. He cut open her shin.

"I expected more," Makeshift growled. "I heard Nightshade was just as furious as Nighthawk, I heard that she was over-powering, a skilled assassin and a key role in the Decepticon cause. You are nothing."

"Why, Makeshift...I haven't even begun and you're already judging me." She flicked her claws and he felt tiny pricks of pain. He looked down. Razor blades had cut open his chest and he laughed, tilting his helm back. He sliced at her again, but she was up and moving. She ran from him, hiding in the furthest corner. But her face didn't show fear. She was expressionless.

He cut at her belly and she barely flinched. He stabbed at her optic with the butt of the hilt and she took it, her optic cracking badly. He watched it weep Energon and he smirked, stepping back as he pointed his sword at her chest, directly at her spark. He smirked. "Goodbye, Nightshade."

But as he leaned forward, she moved, suddenly away from him. Her blades were back and they were slicing at his arm, but Makeshift got a good blow in, opening her up from hip to belly button diagonally. She staggered and growled, but spun away from him when he moved to get another slice in.

Poison shot through his veins, shutting down his internal systems. He had underestimated the danger of letting her close. While he sunk to his knees, she stood over him. Her wound was held together by her servos, but she was smirking in triumph.

Makeshift growled and he threw his sword at her stomach. It pierced her, and possibly went through her from the look on her face. After his last act of defiance, the poison took its toll and he slumped.

Megatron arrived on the scene after her comm and he knelt. "Alive?"

She pulled the sword out of her belly, holding that wound closed with the servo that had only been assisting. "As promised."

"Good. He will be a fine Decepticon after he is brainwashed. Good work, Nightshade." He tossed her a small pouch of credits, holding far less than he had promised. But she caught it and tucked it into her subspace. She followed the medics down to the MedBay, Makeshift between them. The Autobot's helm rolled around, his dim optics seemingly focused on her. She stared back numbly, baring denta in a grin. Fangs flashed in the dim lighting. She had won.

 **The first part of this song reminded me of a scene in Exiles when Optimus suspects there is a traitor onboard the Ark and it turns out to be Makeshift, so I kinda did Make's origin story and threw in the last femme I roleplayed as. Um, enjoy?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Shadow and Soul**

Megatron walked the halls of the Nemesis, his servos behind his back. Inside his helm were the arguements nobody could imagine.

 _Kill. Rip. Enslave. Destroy. Maul. War..._

He rubbed his chest a little, making a soft noise of pain as his face scrunched up. His spark throbbed coldly around the shard of Dark Energon he had shoved there. It wasn't one of his favored memories.

 _Burn. Kill. Die._

He tried to shut out the voice that was the Dark Energon addiction. He didn't like this new entity that had come with the purple shard. At first it had been a sweet nymph's embrace, but now it was the savage song of a siren: still sweet, but deadly cold and unforgiving. He hated that he had been deceived...and he hated that it acted up when he was around his SIC. He wanted the Seeker to like him.

But the things the Seeker did irritated him, and that irritation gave enough room for the Dark Energon to react and he lost all control once the purple took him over.

Starscream was waiting for him, a datapad in his claws. Nightshade stood off to the side, leaning against the viewport glass as she watched the stars go by. They snapped to attention when they heard Megatron's pedesteps and they bowed. Megatron swelled with pride.

 _Break. Ruin. Agony._

He rubbed his chest again, sighing. "Starscream, report."

The Seeker's wing fidgetted and flicked, making Nightshade scoff. Her own wings lowered an inch and went rigid. Megatron knew that to be a disgusted gesture, and it was confirmed by the scoff. "My lord, if I may, the warriors are succeeding with all expectations. We have cut Energon rations to reserve our meager stocks, and the troops don't even notice!"

The word _meager_ set Megatron's denta grinding in irritation. His optics flickered purple. "What has happened to our stocks, Starscream?" He barely restrained himself from roaring at the mech.

Starscream flinched and he looked down at the datapad. "S-sir, we expected this drop...with war. We use it for everything, my lord...for fuel, ammunition..."

"Don't talk to me like I am a sparkling! Do I look like I was born yesterday?" He stepped closer. Inside, his sense of right and wrong was recoiling in shock. The Dark Energon was howling in delight.

"N-no, sir!" He backed himself into a corner. Nightshade watched, her optics slowly widening. But when she took a step to save her SIC, Megatron growled threats to her he would never breathe to anyone if he had been in his right frame of mind.

She jerked and stepped back, her optics dimming and her wings lowered in defeat.

Megatron's servo lashed out and wrapped itself around Starscream's neck, hoisting him up into the air and squeezing. Starscream "erk"ed and struggled, his optics wide and he kicked his pedes.

"M-master, please...whatever I have don-...erk!"

 _Squeeze. Snap. Death. Kill. Murder. Slaughter. Weak die. Strong live!_

But Megatron's servo did the opposite. It released his neck. The Seeker dropped like a sack of framework. The smaller mech curled into a ball, venting heavily through scared sobs. Nightshade kept away from the mechs until Megatron turned his back.

"You're a monster," she croaked.

That made the Dark Energon roar in his audios but he only turned his helm to study her. "I do what needs doing. Surely that must not make me a monster."

He walked out of the room and he slammed the door behind him, and the images of Starscream staring down at him with _fear_ made tears prick at his audios. He only wanted to be feared by the Autobots so that they would stop with this petty war! He didn't need the only mech that had caught his fancy since this war's beginning to hate him...but the Dark Energon was gleeful, making him feel contented and strong, when his spark ached and whimpered at what had been lost.


	4. Chapter 4

**Darkest Part**

 **In which Ratchet discovers the nemesis within his leader.**

Optimus watched Ratchet give his helm a professional once-over that, of course, missed nothing. He closed his optics and he begged that the medic wasn't as skilled as the Prime thought him to be. He hoped that his deepest darkest secrets would be safe for another eon or so...

But Ratchet drew his servos away and his optics widened with fear. "Optimus..."

The Prime watched him, his optics darting between staring at the medic's left one to the right one. He allowed himself a slight squirm of discomfort. "Ratchet..."

"Why is it I find you have a darkened portion of your processor? A portion that you seemingly have no control over? I have heard many stories about this happening to mechs moments after birth...please tell me it isn't so."

Optimus sat up and thought deeply. His mind brushed against that darkened portion of his processor and Nemesis greeted him eagerly, prodding his defenses for weaknesses so that he could take over, but Optimus knew that he would find no such weaknesses...he had prepared himself. "It is so, Ratchet, but know that Nemesis has not taken control of my body for many years. You know this. You were with me for six million years. You know I have always been me...but perhaps, we can be sure that Nemesis never rises up...?"

The medic turned from afraid to furious in that amount of time. "You gave it a name!? Optimus! You know that it cannot be corrected. Eight times out of ten, the mech or femme dies! It is so feared that it doesn't even have a name! Medics and scientists have all avoided. Why do you think sparklings born with this disorder are killed?" Ratchet gasped and he brought his servos to his mouth. "How did you survive?"

Optimus watched him with sad optics. Living with another being continuously trying to gain control of you was no easy feat, not even for Optimus, future Prime and creation of Primus. He had fought hard, nearly died on several occasions, according to his medically-trained carrier. Nemesis was stronger than the body that they shared, even as a sparkling. Growing up with Nemesis was difficult, but they eventually got along, especially when Optimus read about disection in his office as Orion Pax. He had especially enjoyed those readings, Optimus recalled...

"My carrier loved me too much to drown me..." Optimus turned his helm away, shaking a little. "He smuggled me away from the medics, got me home...and he raised me." He looked at the medic, who was backing away from him. "Ratchet, you have to understand."

"Oh, I understand plenty. I understand that you are a monster, and Primus would never let a monster be Prime. Som-somehow, you made a replica of the Matrix. Yeah, and you did that, and you went to get your body changed, see, because the Matrix changes bots mentally and physically, and-and you changed your name..." Ratchet had backed himself into a corner, and he stared at the mech as he trembled in fear. "And you stitched this elaborate hoax because 'Nemesis' told you so...!"

Nemesis was watching the medic in a delighted way, purring loudly. Optimus shook his helm, listening to his brother for a moment. "Nemesis says you are insane, Ratchet..."

"Oh, really?"

The being in his helm laughed and Optimus imagined him nodding. Optimus nodded his helm absently.

Ratchet pointed at him. "You are no Prime." And he turned on his heel and walked away. "And when everyone hears about this, they will think the same!"

Optimus lurched onto his pedes, squeaking protests, but Ratchet closed the door to the MedBay and locked the mech inside. Optimus tapped lightly on the door, begging to be released. Nemesis was rigid with shock, but then he did his own lurching stand, forcing his control into Optimus' limbs. The Prime was caught offguard and every defense he threw up was knocked down.

But their internal warfare left Optimus' body uncertain. Half of it was Optimus and the other half was twisted into Nemesis. The mangled-looking body laid under Ratchet's desk, wheezing and trembling while Optimus and Nemesis locked horns.

"Do-don't leave me alone," the body rasped, claws curling around the other servo and tucking it against his chest as it curled into a fetal position. "I don't want to be alone...I'm scared!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Fight to Forget**

 **In which Megatron fights against Unicron's control.**

Unicron had been insistent, and very convincing in his slow take-over of Megatron's body. He was very polite, too, Unicron praised himself. He hummed as he stitched his follower back together. Oh, how Megatron would thank him...

But Megatron revolted. Hard.

"Get out of me!" Megatron threw the intruder in his mind against the far wall of his consciousness. He conjured weapons to square off with Lord of Darkness in his imagination.

"Oh, my Prince of Darkness..." The god dared to entertain the same ideas he had when the Cybertronian first came to him, invading his body like the plague with that disgusting Prime of his...they thought they had finished him.

"Your love is a lie!" Megatron roared and he attacked the god when he was down. "Did you think that you could erase me?" He fought the god, beating him down. Unicron did nothing yet. "I will fight to forget you! I will _die_ to forget you! Let me go! Let me go!"

Unicron took blow after blow. Megatron, smug and heated with the prospect of a fight, saw vulnerability in the god's retraint. He underestimated the god, he realized too late. This may be his consciousness, but Unicron was a god no matter where he was.

Earth-colored claws wrapped around his neck and hoisted him into the air, much like he had done to Starscream several times. The word karma floated across his mind and he gripped Unicron's wrist, whimpering to be released.

"Silly mech...you will obey me, because the cost of disobedience is life, and you do not want that, my Prince...now..." Claws dug into his belly and ripped out his innards. Gone were his old parts. Instead, new wiring and new chips of data were shoved roughly, forced to comply to the god's will. Megatron howled and twisted, but he couldn't get away, not until the process was complete and Unicron stood above the smaller mech that had curled himself into a fetal position. In all reality, the Megatron in his mind was unaffected by the god's workings only because the mech's mental concept of himself had yet to change.

The real Megatron, however, was different in every way. Not one thing remained, not even his insignia. That had also been changed on a whim, a sudden flair for design Unicron decided that was needed on this new frame of his, since it would be his, and it would always be his, so long as the Dark Energon contentedly flaring in the mech's spark. With that single shard, Unicron had been able to whisper into Megatron's helm since the very beginning, and he had enjoyed every second of it.

"Rise," the god barked. The mech had no other choice but to obey, and he rose. He lowered his optics, though, and Unicron permitted this little act of rebellion. For now. "Good pet...now, let us go and seek our revenge."

"Did you get what you want?" Megatron raised his gaze then and searched the god's face.

Unicron smirked and shrugged. "Sure looks like it."


	6. Chapter 6

**Of These Chains**

He hung, servos secured to the ceiling, peds secured to the floor. Around his hip was another chain, and it secured him to a femme, her helm resting against her arm. She was unconscious in a similar position, and the mech watched her for several moments before he jerked on his bounds like he had since he arrived all those years ago. She had been there, too, but unlike the other femmes, she didn't whimper, didn't even peep except to gasp and sigh. They didn't exchange words, not that they didn't know how...rather they didn't remember, and were not permitted. Collars around their necks ensured they would never utter any understandable word in any language.

The femmes that remained were tough, despite one's strangely-pleasing pink armoring. She was the bravest one, and she was the strongest. She held the record of the most bounds broken, and she continued to improve. Right now, as the mech watched, she shattered the chains holding her right arm up and she gave a primal roar of victory, one the mech found himself lost in as the others joined in. The femme beside him jerked awake and she looked around. Instead of offering her voice in the roar, she grinned enough that her fangs flashed, a rare thing the mech saw. He smiled at her and made a soft sigh.

She whistled and laid her helm back on her arm, purring in a contented way. Her wings fluttered lightly, damaged and broken. The mech wanted to run his black servos down their lengths, but such daydreaming was cut to an end.

A cherry-red mech entered, sporting shiny finish. He was a bird of paradise in a house of crows, and every optic was drawn to him. As always, he preened for them, and then he went down to business. He greeted them by a series of numbers and letters that were their new designations, and the only reason the mech liked his was because it was his favorite number...and he had nothing to compare it to. He didn't remember his true designation.

"Ah, O-24." The mech stopped in front of him and smiled. A cruel, twisted grin that stretched from audio to audio. O-24 shivered as he was released, the femme jolted out of the safety of her dreams when he cut her down as well. "Your turn."

They were workers, and various bots would have a chance to go outside and mine while the others would remain inside, chained and collared. O-24 frowned. Well, they were collared too, but at least they were outside.

But it was raining, and all joy was sapped from him. It wasn't even the fun rain that sparklings would romp and play in. It was the rain that came down like purge, swamping dipped areas and turning them into lakes and ponds. Nothing could be seen an inch in front of their faces, and O-24 gulped and his partner sighed. At least it wasn't acid rain...

They ran, but it was no use. They would have gotten drier, it seems, if they had walked. The cherry red mech, however, was protected under a collapsable tent on a pole. He shook it off in the mouth of the mine and propped it up, letting a few of the younger prisoners marvel at it before he prodded them with his prod. O-24 waited for them to yelp and whimper at the surging electricity, waited for the crackle to sound, but the prod was off, and he relaxed. He lifted his tools and carried them off in the direction of his designated mine, the femme limping after him. She carried her load of tools with her back bent, her arms wrapped securely around the fabric wrapped around the shovel and pick. She laid it out at the end of her side of the chain and she watched O-24, her optics dim. He powered on, his skinny frame doing less work that he had when he first arrived. In fact, when they finished that day, they accomplished next to nothing. But the red mech still allowed them to bathe in the hot pools of water. Mechs even washed the grime from them, and O-24 felt like he had been accepted by Primus.

"Clean them good," the mech barked. He eyed the pink femme that growled under a Vehicon's touch, her shoulders pinned to the wall with one hand, the other rubbing at her back and aft. "I don't like it when they smell and look greasy..."

And then it happened. O-24 watched as every femme in the room was forced into submission. He himself was even molested, and he cried out with all the femmes. Tears rolled down his cheeks and he caught sight of his partner, who laid under the mech and gave weak protests, her claws scratching at the mech above her, who grunted and growled and worked himself into a heavy overload. She twitched.

When they were left alone again, the femme that broke her chains struggled less, wails and sobs forming on her glossa instead of shrieks of victory as link after link broke. The rest of the femmes sobbed, something they hadn't done since they arrived. O-24 looked over at his partner. She twitched. He blinked. Her optics opened and their gaze met, and they stared at each other. No word, spoken in their native tongue or in their made-up language, was spoken. And then she whistled sadly. _I hurt_.

O-24 wished he could nuzzle her from his position on the wall, but he just nodded and squeaked. She gave a weary smile and she layed her helm back against her arm. The chains felt heavier.

The sobbing kept O-24 awake, and he tested the bounds again. This time, he pulled on them longer, and there was a clink. Another clink sounded and another, another...until O-24 was on his pedes and standing tall. He looked at the femme and tore her down, but he stopped. The insignia on her wing made her stop. It was different than the ones that marked him and the others. It was sneered at often, he remembered. It was purple and triangular, and it wasn't welcome. He looked down at the chain connecting him, the one that had kept him grounded to this femme. He wondered, absently, if the breakage of this chain would result in him knowing who he was...but it would mean breaking what had come to be the first thing he had in this prison. Even if he tried to think as back as he knew he could, all he could invision was a chain around his hips. He left it, pulling his servos away. He whistled, chirped and whined, forming the phrase, _let this one remain._

She stared at him, her optics dimming and she nodded, lowering herself onto her peds. The sobbings melted into exhausted sleepy-time noises and O-24 looked around, knowing that he couldn't save them all. The time was perfect for him and his partner to leave, and too many leaving wouldn't be good...

One step into the hall turned into a run, and he and the femme were free...free!

Gone were the collars, broken where the shackles and the only chain that remained was the one between them. They danced, soft sounds squeaking past their vocals that hadn't been used.

"Saved!"  
"Free!"  
"Home!"

"Together," O-24 finished as he grabbed the femme's servos and he kissed them both. Then they started walking, leaving the others behind and leaving two empty spaces in the prison.

 **I liked writing this one a lot ;-; O-24 was supposed to be Optimus Prime, in the beginning of the war, and the femme was a random femme I threw into the story. I've been dreaming of this story XD Now it's come true! X3 Enjoy!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Falling Sky**

Megatron walked in on Starscream's attempted murder. Predaking and the others were tearing into the skinny mech, breaking him apart. His wings lay askew, his claws were broken and shattered, torn out of place and simply gone. His optics were cracked. He was screaming still. Megatron felt a surge of rage and he threw himself at Predaking, knocking him over. He lifted Starscream and ran to the broken window that Darksteel had probably made himself. He hit the ground and started running to his little hideaway he had crafted. Starscream fought, wiggling and whimpering as he didn't understand why the mech that had wanted him dead was carrying him to safety. Thinking of it as another attack, Starscream clawed weakly at him, but Megatron laid the Seeker down in the cave, stroking his helm lightly to soothe him.

Slowly, the Seeker relaxed, whimpering lightly until he fell asleep. Megatron guarded him like a dragon guarded gold.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Forest**

It rained, leaves shaking down the rain and scattering it in different parts of the forest. Rain came off of Optimus and created mist from the impact. Deer and other forest animals tucked themselves into warm areas and fell asleep, but his audios picked up restless sounds of new fawns.

As he walked, rabbits bolted out of their hiding place, several baby bunnies running after them. He knelt to watch the little things turn into wet creatures after their fluff was drenched in water. He did his best to shelter them from the rain, and a tiny bunny stopped to turn black eyes on him. It was the littlest one, and Optimus reached down to pat it along, but before he could move, it was gone, whisked away by its mother and into a safer place away from him. He got to his peds and kept moving.

He tilted his helm back and smiled up at the clouds still unloading the water. Thunder rolled and lightning ripped across the sky, illuminating the blackened clouds, but it didn't frighten him as it frightened the fawns, who cried out and, Optimus imagined, hid themselves in their mothers. Instead, his smile grew and he closed his optics in a long blink.

He kept walking, gently picking through the forest life until the GroundBridge opened and he stepped through into his own safe place away from the storm.


	9. Chapter 9

**Yours Again**

Optimus flew down the Well. He saw the faint glow of a revived Primus, and the AllSpark pinged madly for its creator. The Matrix also greeted Primus, sending out a band of light to guide Optimus, even though the Well only led one place and it was near impossible to lose his way. He felt his spark ache, though, as he was leaving his family behind. Perhaps...perhaps he would see them again. It would be a welcome relief to see his family again, and he promised he would embrace them as soon as he could.

Primus drew nearer, and Optimus gave a shout of delight. He was returning to the mech he ran away from all those years ago to save himself from the Decepticons. "I am sorry you lost me," Optimus cried out. "Or did I lose you?"

Either way, he was coming back and he would be with Primus again.

Primus pulsed a greeting. The AllSpark wailed and the Matrix went mad, flashing memories of its long journey to the Core. He almost thought he heard Primus chuckle in his audio, and he imagined the bright bands of light emerging from Primus as arms to embrace him, to welcome him back into the light of Primus.

He was overwhelmed, and his servos shook. He kept flying, even though he wanted to take a moment and just marvel at Primus. The last time he saw the Creator was when he was sick and dying, leaking purple and rasping through gasps.

Today, however, Primus was alert and focused, greating Optimus with a voice that threatened to shatter his audios.

WELCOME BACK, MY PRIME.

He wailed and flew straight into the blinding blue light and he felt the AllSpark in his spark separate into a thousand individual lights, shooting up through the Well in a spray of celebration. He wished he could see it...

WELCOME!

The shout this time was from twelve gathered forms and they dropped to one knee. Twelve pairs of blue optics studied him. The Matrix in his chest separated and merged with Primus, who gave a longing sigh.

"He has missed it," one of the beings said and it rose, running at him and hugging him tight. "Welcome back...brother."

Optimus' arms clamped hard around this being he only kind of remembered, and he smiled into its shoulder as the hug became one for a group. Arms of all shapes and sizes wrapped around them and voices, high and low and rough and smooth, were in his audios, talking and laughing and sighing.

Names for faces came to him and he threw his arms out, wrapping as many bodies of his siblings as he could in his embrace.

"TILL ALL ARE ONE!"  
"ALL ARE ONE," the Twelve returned.


	10. Chapter 10

**What You Keep Alive**

 **Rating: M**

 **Pairing: Starscream/Cyclonus**

 **Reason I'm writing this: Because I fragging can XD I didn't want to change the rating on the entire thing (yet) and this wasn't supposed to have /any/ dirtiness, but I figured one little chapter wouldn't hurt anyone. Besides, I started writing this as Megatron/Starscream, but I also began thinking about Starscream's previous lovers, and since my little Tiny Titan Cyclonus regards me with his evil grin, I couldn't resist. Enjoy and don't kill me.**

Meet me at the bar, he had said. Cyclonus did exactly that, and he watched the dancers from a distance. He regarded them with crimson slits for optics, his mouth a deepset frown. This was where he was to meet the Vosian Prince? Perhaps he made a mistake. He got up to leave, but as he turned his gaze towards the door, it opened and revealed the mech he was waiting for.

The purple and blue lights lit up Starscream's shiny gray armor, put a different hue into his optics. He loved the look of him and he sat back down as the music switched from instruments humming through the speakers to a rough, audio-grating song. Starscream curled his lip up as he walked closer to the purple mech. His long, long claws rested lightly on his chest and Cyclonus gifted him with a kiss.

Starscream had been virgin when he fell for the purple mech that was cuffed and collared. But after he accepted a dangerous job, he was released and almost free to do what he desired. His job allowed him to be in places like this bar/mech club, places his former self would have enjoyed before he was arrested for murder. Who would have thought that the Prince of Vos would have fallen for such a mech as he? Certainly not Cyclonus, who had walked with his nose in the air when he saw the young Prince first begin to tail him like a lost puppy. He didn't seem to be afraid of a mech that could kill him.

Starscream was not disappointing in the berth and definitely not when Cyclonus was looking for wanted mechs and femmes, and they kept coming back for more of each other, more information, more tenderness, more interfacing. Every job Cyclonus took on, it seemed, Starscream was not very far behind. But Cyclonus was no longer looking for bounties to add to his list. Instead, he was looking for Starscream, and it wasn't very difficult. The Seeker had jumped at the opportunity to be with Cyclonus without him reeking of someone else's Energon.

Starscream took his servo and led him to the back room. He laid down on the berth, his legs bent and spread slightly. Cyclonus knelt at his pedes, his servos on his knees. "Have you been a good mech?" He curled his servo behind his knee and lifted the leg so he could kiss the side of it down to his heeled pedes. "A few days ago was the human holiday of love..."

The Prince watched him, nodding and sucking lightly on his claws. Cyclonus always used to think it was cute. "Uh-huh," he murmured. "I got your gift."

Cyclonus smiled into his lover's thigh, licking a transformation seam there. The Seeker gasped and whined. He had sent the Seeker flowers and a heart-shaped box of Energon goodies, something that the old Cyclonus would never have bought and could never have afforded. But Cyclonus had an extra lining in his subspace now and he put the credits to good use, sometimes dipping into it to buy little things to woo his Prince lover, and sometimes shovelling the contents out to buy bigger, grander things, like his new base.

Starscream was hot and eager now, Cyclonus could feel. He trembled and twitched under every touch. Cyclonus rested his servos back on his knees and he spread the Seeker's legs wide. Pink folds dripped lube, and Cyclonus pressed a claw inside.

"Not as tight as I remember," Cyclonus said lightly. He looked at the Seeker. "My precious little lover...are you seeing someone?"

"Yes," Starscream gasped. "I am..."

"Mm. And our secret is safe?" He dropped a kiss on the valve, making the Seeker jerk and arch. "It had better be closely guarded...you know how my employers get when they see I am spending too much time with others...my job doesn't allow much social interaction."

Starscream clutched at the sheets beneath him, begging through whimpers. Cyclonus had no desire to frag the Seeker just yet. He loved torturing him like this. "Megatronus doesn't know," he promised and he spread his legs, wiggling his aft as much as he could. "Please, Cyclonus..."

"Are we pressed for time?" Cyclonus sucked lightly at the back of the Seeker's knee, which was an especially sensitive spot that made the little thing writhe like a worm. He was not disappointed.

"Yes!" he gasped. "I told Megatronus that I was going to Iacon to talk to Ultra Magnus..." He blushed a light pink.

"You have multiple lovers." Cyclonus tapped a claw on his Seeker's aft. "Naughty, naughty..."

"I haven't interfaced with him," Starscream gasped. "I'm just flirting..."

"You Seekers are so filthy!" Cyclonus squeaked in mock disgust, but he did line his spike up to Starscream's valve. If he was pressed for time, he didn't want his little Seeker in trouble. "No wonder how you Seekers carry so many sparklings at a time."

Starscream didn't reply. He was too busy biting his lip and quivering at the idea of being speared. Cyclonus thrusted his hips forward and kissed the Seeker's neck. He liked being slow and gentle with the Seeker, as it got the annoyed mech to scratch down his back and leave the room with purple smudged between his thighs when Cyclonus finally picked up the pace to an unbearable speed, but he had already begun hammering his hips against the back of the Seeker's thighs. He held his legs up, his knees hooked at his shoulders and he pounded straight down, feeling the valve stretch to accept the thick intruder.

"Your Megatronus must be a big boy," Cyclonus huffed down at Starscream. The Seeker's mouth hung open and his optics were bright with the pleasure he was receiving. He enjoyed this just as much as Cyclonus enjoyed forcing him to accept whatever position he put the littler mech in.

When Cyclonus overloaded, Starscream had already came, and he pulled out slowly just to tease him. The Seeker kicked at his chest, and Cyclonus caught his pede. He kissed from heel to where the leg joined with the hip, and then he flicked the mech's valve with his glossa. The Seeker smiled and rested his claws on Cyclonus' helm.

"Maybe someday, we will have more time for you to properly clean me up," Starscream murmured and he got to his pedes. His hips swayed as he made his way to the shower and Cyclonus cleaned himself up with a rag. He replaced the sheets as he was instructed by a poster pinned to the door and he made sure everything was put back where it was before he and his lover arrived. He fluffed the pillows absently while Starscream cleaned himself.

The Seeker shouted over the roar of the water, "Do you have time to walk you home?"

Cyclonus stood in the middle of the room, looking around and he smirked at the closed door of the wash rack. "My lover, I have all the time in the world."

Starscream walked out, shiny and new. Cyclonus' face settled into the usual scowl and he wrapped his arms around the Seeker. The Prince laid his helm down on his chest.

"You know I could kill you and get the biggest bounty I have ever been offered..."

"You keep saying that and I keep not believing you." But Cyclonus knew that was false. There was a small whiff of fear that came off the Seeker and he growled lightly. "You know, Cyclonus," the Seeker whispered as he stood on tiptoe to deliver a kiss. "You're not as bad as you say."

Cyclonus kissed back slowly, pausing where he stood to think. His lips parted and he sighed into the Seeker's mouth, who made a soft noise that almost made Cyclonus drag him back to the berth. "You keep me doing what I love best."

"Fragging me?"

"Living."


	11. Chapter 11

**Gravity Lies**

Dreadwing was chasing Wheeljack when he felt his brother awaken and he greeted him over the bond, celebrating his return. He had not felt his brother in eons, and he had always dreamed of the day that he would find Skyquake again. He had lost hope several times before, but now his dream had come true. He imagined reuniting with his brother, and he imagined returning to Megatron, a complete set. Two split-sparks, separated at birth, coming home.

But as he paced a dwarf planet the color of silver dirt, he felt his brother die and he howled in rage. He fired his cannons at Wheeljack, unrelenting. They passed two ringed planets, and he thought he saw an ice planet with more rings out of the corner of his optic, but he couldn't be sure with the tears rolling down his scrunched-up faceplates. He passed moons, and one large star he assumed was a sun to these planets. But the one Wheeljack was heading to was a pathetic mud world of green and blue.

One of Dreadwing's shots struck true and sent the Wrecker spiralling into the mud ball. He gave chase, rage replacing the happiness in his spark. He was so close! He was so close to his brother, and now he is gone again...his poor, poor brother.

He reached up and touched his chest above his spark. "Brother, I will avenge you. I will make those who harmed you pay!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Take Me Over**

Optimus kneaded his helm. A processor-ache halted all thinking and he felt tears prick at his optics. He pushed the heels of his servos into his optics, hoping to stop the pain, but it only increased. Colors exploded across the darkness he had created and he put his servos down on the report he had been given from Smokescreen.

An increase of Decepticon activity only proved one thing. The Autobots were so far behind...and another report of their stocks from Bulkhead revealed the worst part of it...

"No Energon?"

"Not in the first three warehouses. We're down to one," Bulkhead told his leader, who sat behind his desk. The green Wrecker slowly shifted where he stood, uncomfortable with the confused look on his leader's face.

"How did this happen?" Optimus got to his pedes. When they moved bases, they had five warehouses of Energon. He ran to the warehouses, hoping it wouldn't be true. He stared in the last warehouse at the single row of Energon cubes. "I have failed..."

"No, Optimus." Bulkhead touched his leader's shoulder. He bit his lip. "I'm sure it's just from our near-constant fighting to get the Predacon bones...yeah, that's it. And I keep getting injured and I keep getting shot at and I take up a lot of Energon to refuel..."

Optimus turned to him. "Do you not understand? I have failed as your Prime..." He touched his chest. "The Matrix was supposed to lead us to victory...and instead, it left us with no other option but to cower...I have made the wrong decisions..." Optimus sagged under the weight of leadership and Bulkhead realized just how ragged his Prime had become.

His optics were dim. His shoulders dropped lower than Bulkhead had ever seen, and worst of all, his optics were downcast, as though the Prime stood before a disappointed Sentinel instead of a confused Bulkhead. Did the Prime expect a reprimand? He wasn't Ratchet. He wasn't Arcee. He wasn't Ultra Magnus. Those three would go after Prime all the time, but Bulkhead didn't have the spinal strut to yell at his leader. Instead, he touched Optimus' shoulder and he whispered soft words of encouragement.

"You made it further than anyone would have thought. And if it makes you feel better, I think that no one else could do your job." He walked away, not knowing what else to do or say.

Optimus studied the grit under his pedes and he sighed. He felt weak and pathetic, not at all like the other Primes who all accomplished so much in their brief time as leaders. He lifted his optics and looked to the horizon. He would go some place with mountains, he decided, as he would be then taller and be closer to Primus that way.

But he didn't know that Primus heard the little Prime no matter where he stood.

The mountains were tall and brought him closer to the sky. He reached out and uncurled his servos, pleading to the stars.

"Primus!" He shouted, screaming to the stars and not knowing, if somewhere, Primus heard his cries and turned his great optic onto the one he had seemingly abandoned.

The Matrix, at the sound of its creator's name, blurped and sent out a bright band of blue out to the stars, pleading alongside the Prime for the Great Creator to notice them.

But Primus had already turned his optic towards them. He reached down with his own band of light and Optimus found himself wrapped in the white light of Primus.

"I cannot do this on my own. Why have you abandoned me?"

 _I have never abandoned you, my creation._

Optimus closed his optics and he sagged a little. "I am simply not strong enough for this burden...make it someone else's, for I have failed you."

 _Which Prime of mine has brought his team to this world? Which Prime of mine has survived the attacks of Megatron? Which Prime of mine bears the Matrix? Which Prime of mine has seen six million years of war and still refuses to quit? You are that Prime of mine, and you are worthy, for you have never failed me once._

Optimus dropped to his knees and clutched the ground beneat him. "But, Primus-"

 _But nothing. Rise, as you had all those years ago, and remember who you are. You are Optimus Prime, and you are mine._


	13. Chapter 13

**The Ever**

Starscream watched Vos burn. He could get closer, but Megatron and Nemesis had both pulled him back from the burning city when his paint started to bubble and curl. Now Nemesis stood beside him, his servos at his side and his optics closed with his helm bent.

The weight of this attack hit Starscream like a punch to the gut and he doubled over, screaming. "NO! NO! NO!" He tried to run to the city, but Nemesis drew him into an embrace.

"Starscream," the mech whispered. "It's over...Vos is dead..."

"Mommy..." The Seeker hugged the larger mech's arm and sobbed, his optics watching the palace crumble and explode into a larger fire. "Papa..." He hid his face into the chest of the larger mech and his wings drooped. Defeat washed over him and he sunk into Nemesis' arms. He let the mech carry him back to the warship (also called Nemesis), and he laid on his berth where he had left him.

 **ooo**

Megatron drew whirls and circles with his claw on the delicate wing of his Seeker and he watched Starscream twitch. The burns on his servos and face were worst, and the medics had already applied bandages and cream to soothe the irritated flesh there. But the wounds in the Seeker's spark were beyond their reach. "Primus gives his strongest warriors the toughest fights," he offered, moving his helm to see Starscream's face.

The Seeker glared at him. "There is no god that would take my parents away from me...he has abandoned me. I messed up too much, and now he's punishing me." He drew away from the mech. "I need time alone, Megatron..."

The mech watched him. "As long as you're sure you're okay..."

"I am." Starscream glared down at the sheets of the berth and he rolled over. He sighed and hugged a pillow to his chest, his optic ridges knitting together. "Frag you, Primus..." His claws tore into the pillow.

 **ooo**

Starscream must have fallen asleep, because when he opened his optics, he was in a different room. Light pooled around him and the edges of the circle of light were dark, pitch black. But Starscream felt optics on him and he trembled, turning around and around in fear.

Until one mech stepped forward. The mech stepped right out of the legends... "Starscream," the mech rumbled.

"Vector Prime?" As Starscream spoke, he turned around in a circle and saw more of the Primes. Twelve of them were stepping out, including the mech without a name. He smiled warmly and winked a little at the Seeker. Starscream smiled.

"Yes, Starscream...we are all present and accounted for."

"But the Thirteenth?" He looked at Vector and frowned.

"He is also accounted for, as I said." The mech didn't smile, but his optics were bright with laughter. "We understand you have had a rough day..."

"That doesn't even begin to describe it!" Starscream curled his claws into fists. "Primus blew up my city...and my parents."

Vector Prime tilted his helm slowly. "Primus did not blow up Vos...Orion Pax did."

Starscream growled. "Primus allowed it!"

"Primus had no servo in what happened. I am sorry for your loss. We all are," he said, spreading his servos to indicate the mechs gathered. Solus Prime nodded slowly in agreement, purring lightly. "But you cannot blame Primus for what happened to you."

"But..." Starscream looked at Liege Maximo, the largest of the Primes, and his optics dimmed. "He did this to punish me..."

"Punish you," the great mech rumbled. He chuckled. "No, no, no, my Prince...Primus does not deal out punishments."

"I killed a lot of his mechs that believed in him...I deserved Vos' burning..." Starscream's optics lowered and his shoulders dropped.

Vector Prime walked into the circle light and he sighed lightly. "Starscream...you deserved nothing. Primus is sorry for your loss and he is sending a present your way..." Twelve servos rested on his shoulder and wings and Starscream sank to his knees while they watched him and soothed him...

 **ooo**

Starscream woke up to Nemesis shaking him and he opened his optics slowly, staring dumbly at him. "Nemesis...? Wha..?"

"Starscream! Good news! Come to the nursery, quick!" He ran out of the room and Starscream bolted to his pedes. He ran after the mech and half the ship seemed to be going that way as well.

Through the window, Starscream and the rest of the mechs and femmes onboard could see Megatron holding a newborn sparkling as it struggled feebly and wailed. The gathered femmes "aww"ed and moved closer to see the newborn. The carrier was exhausted, watching her newborn with dim optics.

Starscream remembered how rarely femmes successfully carried their sparklings due to the war and thought of this sparkling as a gift. Vector Prime's words brought his Energon to a cool trickle and he gaped at the familiar coloration of the newborn femme in Megatron's blue-stained servos.

The sparkling trembled weakly, her cries slowly being soothed as Megatron spoke to it. Starscream slipped into the nursery and touched the baby Seekerling, his optics wide.

"I didn't expect a Seeker," Megatron purred and he lowered the sparkling into Starscream's possession. The infant stopped crying immediately and just stared up at the larger Seeker with curious blue optics. "Two grounders producing a Seeker? That is impressive, truly a gift from Primus."

"That's what I was thinking..." Starscream held her close, his wings lowering as he touched the sparkling's helm with his claws. "Hello, little one. You've picked quite the time to be born..." He purred when the Seekerling reached up for him, pouting. He moved his helm closer to her and he pressed a kiss between her optics. "You are very beautiful," he whispered and he curled her closer. "May Primus light your path always..."

He laid the Seekerling down on her carrier's chest and he smiled down at the Seekerling that bore his carrier's markings on her wings and face. He traced them absently like he did when he was a youngling, not understanding the marks.

 _They're angel kisses_ , she had said once, and then she had spread kisses all over her firstborn's face. So it was only suiting that the little Seekerling was called Angel...


	14. Chapter 14

**Part That's Holding On**

Ratchet stood at the edge of the Well and he looked down, frowning lightly. Did Optimus _really_ have to do what he did? Could he have done something to help him? The Prime had said that there was nothing that his friend could do, and for a moment Ratchet believed that, but now that it was...done, he was beginning to really regret that he couldn't do anything for his friend...

Everything would be different, he knew. Optimus wouldn't be there to help him, wouldn't be there to give his advice that he always would give his friends... Ratchet felt tears prick in his optics and he closed them tight.

 **ooo**

That night, Ratchet dreamed that Optimus was standing in front of him, smiling and laughing as he used to when they were Ratchet and Orion Pax...but the more Ratchet ran to him, the further Optimus was, and his smile faded and his laughter turned cold.

"Why aren't you helping me, Ratchet?" he would ask, his optics turning black and his mouth slowly freezing in a soundless wail. Ratchet would run himself to death, it seemed, just to wrap his arms around his friend. Tears rolled hot and bitter down his cheeks, but no matter what he did, Optimus remained out of reach.

That was, until Primus touched the medic's spark and sent him relief. Ratchet smacked into Optimus and held onto him as if the Prime would wiggle out of his grasp.

"I'm not letting go..." Ratchet hid his face and he wept. "I'm never forgetting you."

Soft servos rested on his helm and back and the Prime purred lightly. "I know."

Ratchet slept easily for the rest of the night, his dreams remaining light as he dreamed of Optimus. The Prime, in the dream, was never far from reach...


	15. Chapter 15

**Ascent**

Megatron held on for a long time, Primus thought as he felt the old mech lay down for the last time and draw his counted number of gasps. Optimus had offered to go faster than Vector Prime, and Primus only chuckled as he allowed his thirteenth creation passage to Cybertron.

 **ooo**

Megatron gasped, poison flooding his veins. The Dark Energon shard in his spark was giving up on him, reducing him to a pile of scrap. Tears trickled down to the dust of his home in the Badlands. The Decepticon territory, he knew, would be left alone while the memories of the Decepticons still remained.

He would go quietly, Megatron assumed. So quietly that Primus himself wouldn't even notice, but as Megatron watched, a shape formed in the horizon and slowly made a beeline towards him. He wanted to lift his helm and see who this brave soul was, but his helm was too heavy and he was too tired.

The shape came close enough that Megatron recognized the colorations. Blue and silver and red and yellow, all smashed onto one frame...he would have growled, but his vocals could only produce a defeated whine. He jerked and laid still, panting.

Optimus knelt and touched his helm with his servo. "Megatron...I have come to retrieve you."

Megatron gave a weak whimper and his optics closed. He curled his fists into claws. The great Megatron, come to die, and the only one that came to him was his enemy, the mech he had betrayed and back-stabbed repeatedly...the librarian he mocked and pushed to every breaking point only for the mech to turn around and give him some odd gift or spare him from death...anyone but Optimus Prime, he begged. He'd even take Starscream. Anyone but the Prime...

"I also want you to know that I forgive you."

Megatron's mouth opened in a soundless scream and he turned his face to press it into the grit. He didn't want to hear anymore.

"I know why you did the things you did, and I am okay with it now. The past can die in the past, and it does not have to make an appearance in the future. Megatron, do you accept this?"

Megatron nodded weakly and reached out with his claws. Optimus took his servo, the other still on his helm. While the Prime watched, the once great warlord gave one last shuttering breath. A smile eased across his faceplates and his optics dimmed. Optimus stood and let Primus take him back.

 **ooo**

Optimus watched Megatron look around the realm in confusion before his faceplates split into a grin and he laughed, making the warlord jerk. Back in Primus' light, all of Unicron's meddling melted away, leaving only silver armor and blue optics with blunt digits. Megatron touched his armor lightly, felt his face and rubbed his servos. His optics dimmed and he looked at Optimus.

"Welcome home, brother," Optimus said.


End file.
